Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
God can do anything.
God required all able-bodied men twenty-years-old and up to be numbered for military service in the Old Testament, but there were reasons acceptable for being discharged from that obligation. Using this standard as a contrast, Solomon drove home the point that all men, without exception, must face death when he wrote, "There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death, and there is no discharge in that war" (Eccl. 8:8). The Bible says that "it is appointed unto man once to die, and after that, the Judgment." Ethan asked the question in Psalm 89:48, "What man is he that liveth and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave?" David said that not even the richest of men can pay God off, so that He will not bring an end to his life on earth (Ps. 49:6-9).
This is what the Bible teaches about mankind and death. It must be faced by each one of us. But God can do anything. The Bible does not limit Him because the Bible is not God; God is God. God doesn't even read the Bible.
There was a man who never saw death. His name was Enoch, and in his lifetime, he pleased God to such an extent that God decided (is He not free to do so?) not to make Enoch suffer through the natural process of dying. God took Enoch alive from the earth. Enoch is now with the Lord.
God can do anything.
When Paul preached the gospel to the Jewish communities scattered throughout the Roman Empire, part of his message was that because of Jesus, it is possible now to be forgiven for sins that under the Law were unforgivable (Acts 13:39). Two such "unforgivable" sins were premeditated murder and adultery. Both were punishable by death, and especially in the case of murder, God was adamant in the Law that under no circumstances was a murderer to be allowed to escape execution, even if he grabbed hold of God's own altar, begging for mercy. "Thou shalt take him from my altar", commanded the Lord God, "that he may die" (Ex. 21:14). No exceptions were allowed.
But God can do anything.
When King David committed adultery with Bathsheba, and then murdered her righteous husband Uriah in a vain attempt to conceal his sin, he committed two of the sins for which there was no forgiveness under the Law. Nathan, God's prophet, later confronted David about his transgression, and David was seized with terror of God's wrath. He broke down and confessed his iniquity, certain that he would now be cast away by God and cursed to die the death of the wicked. It stunned every one else in Israel, including David, when Nathan announced to the distraught king, "The Lord hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die" (2Sam. 12:13).
Fortunately for David, his Bible, the Law of Moses at that time, was not God. Besides, the Law was for man; it did not require God to do anything. Nothing can do that. If in His infinite wisdom, God determined that in this case He would overrule the Law, that is His prerogative.
God can do anything.
God does not read the Bible. He does not search the Scriptures to see what He can and cannot do, and neither do we if are wise. The Bible is not what guides God's decisions, and it is not what guides the decisions of those who are like Him; the Spirt does that. God does not take counsel from even the wisest of holy men. He does not ask for permission or directions. He "worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" (Eph. 1:11). And it was His will that David live and not die, regardless of what the Law demanded. Is it any wonder that David loved the Lord? or that he often sang, "Praise ye the Lord!"
David had learned that God can do anything.
Repentance is not a gimmick. The sinner who repents doesn't force God into a corner, with no option but to do the will of the sinner and wash him from his sins. God's forgiveness is not automatically given just because a sinner repents. Forgiveness is given ONLY because God wants to forgive. It is the work of God; it comes from God's heart; it is new and wonderful every time it happens. Even if a man repents, God is not required to forgive. The Bible tells us that "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1Jn. 1:9). But God would still be "faithful and just" even if in a particular case He decided not to forgive someone who repents. And He is perfectly free to do that, no matter what the Bible tells us about anything.
God did not forgive a number of people in history, even when some of them regretted their evil deeds and repented. God refused to forgive Esau when that profane man sold his birthright, even though Esau sought forgiveness with many tears (Heb. 12:16-17). God refused to forgive Judas, even though Judas returned the blood money to the wicked men who paid him to betray the Lord Jesus (Mt. 27:3-5). On several occasions, we read in the Bible that God sent prophets to certain sinners, telling them that they had provoked God for the last time and that no sacrifice would ever be accepted for what they had done. He refused to forgive Eli, Israel's high priest, for allowing his perverse sons to abuse the children of Israel when they came to worship their God. Eli's sons caused God's own people to hate to come to Shiloh to worship Him, and that provoked God to such wrath that He swore He would never forgive either Eli or his sons forever.
Jesus told us that just one sin was always unpardonable (Mt. 12:31), but any sin can become unpardonable if the sin is committed in such a manner that it provokes God's wrath to that extent. When some sinful people in Jerusalem learned that terrible judgments from God would very shortly fall upon the inhabitants of the city, they arrogantly dismissed God's stern call to repentance. Instead, they threw what we would call an "end of the world party". "Let us eat and drink," they said, "for tomorrow we shall die." This cavalier attitude toward Judah's coming disaster infuriated God to such an extent that He sent Isaiah to tell those foolish people that they would never be forgiven. Isaiah said, "It was revealed in my ears by the Lord of hosts, 'Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord of hosts'" (Isa. 22:12-14). That warning, too, was probably scoffed at by the sinners in Jerusalem, but only until God's hammer fell. Afterwards, they didn't think the displeasure of the Almighty was such a joke. More importantly, right now they are all being tormented in the flames of hell, making no plans for a party.
In a meeting some years ago, I heard a man testify that he and his wife had "commanded God" to do a certain thing. The man was obviously trying to teach us that if we would only believe the truth, we could give God commandments and that He would be forced to obey us. I had heard of people who believed that nonsense, but that was my first and only encounter with them. Apparently, they believed that God is required to do whatever men command Him to do, if those men base their command to Him on a Scripture. They were foolish and blind. God can do anything, and He does do anything that He wants to do, and only what He is pleased to do, all the time. There is no Scripture, no person, no tradition that has any power or even influence over the judgments or works of the Almighty. He will show mercy upon those whom He chooses to show mercy; others, He hardens and then destroys (Rom. 9:18).
We serve a living God, a God with feelings and thoughts and desires. He does only what His heart tells Him to do. The Bible reveals many things about Him, but it does not limit Him or tell all that there is to know about Him. He does whatever His Spirit desires to do, always. That is the way He lives, and it is also the way they live who are like Him. Those who are led by God's holy Spirit are the ones whom God calls His sons (Rom. 8:14) because they live as He lives. They are free, as He is free. They are holy, as He is holy. The Bible does not guide such free men into all truth because it can't; the Spirit guides them into all truth because it is the Spirit of truth (1Jn. 5:6), and to guide us into all truth is the reason the Spirit was sent (Jn. 16:13).
If you know that God can do anything, you will not fall victim to some Spirit-less tradition of men. If you know that God can do anything at any time that it pleases Him to do it, you can believe all things and hope all things. If you know that God is free to do as He will, you are set free to follow Him, to be like Him, and to live above the shadows of man's vain imaginations, just as your God does. If you know that God can do anything, you realize your very great need to know Him, not just to read about Him. If you know that God can do anything, then you fear Him, and you love Him. And if you fear and love God, you will someday see His face and live forever in His presence.